Megatron is loosing it with this femme. If she's not avoiding him, she's doing something to annoy him. She has the most irritating way of pushing his boundaries. Every move dares him to lash out. He's being made a fool and his wrath is seething. A lingering concern whispers that his bots aren't going to take him seriously if this continues, but his mind grasps at lose wires. He can't beat her, he can't scare her, and he's loosing interest faster than a vehicon falling off the ship.
She's worse than Starscream.
His mind drifts to Soundwave who has been working from his room for the past megacycle as he works things out with Laserbeak.
When Megatron turned to Soundwave, the bot suddenly whirled around to find only the Minicon. Instantly angered that she had gotten away to bend more rules, Megatron stomped.
"What is Laserbeak doing on the ground?"
Soundwave shifted the way he does before Laserbeak is supposed to land onto his torso. Nothing.
His screen scanned him to find everything is normal save the muted feed. Soundwave tried again to summon him. Nothing.
Megatron looked at him and his chief walked over and scooped his Minicon up. He barely heard it, but he caught some small bickering between them.
What in Unicron's name is going on?
Thankfully, the back-and-forth was less then a few nanokliks before Laserbeak finally complied. Megatron almost returned to work but something in Soundwave's stance shifted upon their contact. It seemed like arched back then...he gasped. Audibly, gasped...and froze.
Some troupes that saw shuffled nervously and turned away.
If that femme screwed up Soundwave, he will destroy her.
Soundwave quickly recovered but grew twitchy and almost hesitated returning to the computers. Some of his usual grace was slow as well. Megatron had never seen him like that before so he wasted no time to pry. All he had to do was stoop to Soundwave's eye level and wait.
He complied and threw pictures up on his screen: everything Laserbeak saw then charts of his internal systems spiking. This didn't make sense at first until Soundwave experienced a late shudder that embarrassed him.
Static.
Megatron knows about this more than most; it was a well-hidden "art" in the Undergrid and nearly died out during the war. He never gave it much thought during his gladiator days, save to say it was unnecessary and a waste of time, until now.
Supposedly, all mechanoids have this ability whether they know about it or not.
He's suddenly, keenly, aware of his own hands and gets distracted by the possible outcomes of using them.
Then again, he's loosing interest. She annoys him far more than she attracts him. Now he wonders if all his effort is going to be worth something. Sure, extra energon is nice; she saves resources and fuel towards workers and machines to mine more... what else? Is that it? Is that worth his trouble?
His fists tighten.
No. No, it is not. They managed fine without her.
However...she will NOT leave unpunished for all her antics...and she will not remember the Autobots when he's done with her.
Megatron brings up the records of Doradus with the notes he's taken of her. What was it that she told Orion...she doesn't remember her past lives? He sees the notes he took and stands just a little straighter. A satisfied grin stretches over his faceplate and a thrill tickles a small cackle out of him. That will do.
Soundwave comes up behind him.
He locks his hands behind his back and turns, "What is it?"
His screen blinks to a security camera in the brig. She's gone. Again.
"Where is she now?"
Soundwave searches.
Megatron lets out a roar, "Find her!"
The troupes start to scurry, and one reports from the energon storage chamber area over the ship's com.
"Lord Megatron, Orion Pax is not inside his office."
He storms off the bridge with a briskness none but Soundwave has seen. The troupes are fast to get out of his way. He's in no mood to deal with any other obstacles.

Orion Pax stands in front of her, staring at the communicator in her hands.
How she got here, she's hardly recalling because she seems to have stopped retaining subjects in her brain...but managed to tell him that she communicates with the local life forms of earth.
What is getting into her?
"I've never seen that model. Is it new?"
"Oh, no. It's custom."
Why is she still talking? Why is she still answering his questions? If he talks about this with Megatron, she's dead...if she isn't already. The warlord has resorted to prison, of all things.
Orion Pax smiles and asks so politely to hold it.
She gives it to him; for no smart reason.
"They have one just like it?"
"Yep, but remember, they're tiny little things."
He nods, "So do you talk to Jack first, if he's the oldest of the three? Does he have the duplicate?"
Sonica shrugs, "They can talk to me all at once. It's more fun that way."
She comes up to his side and turns it on, selecting the storage of screenshots. Purposely hovering her hand over the screen, she hides the collection of pictures she took of him and the other Autobots and quickly finds and selects a picture of Humans.
Orion Pax intently stares at their features and for a moment, she fears she restarted his memory.
He smiles.
Immediately, she invents a plan to get him out of here- whether the Autobots have found the space bridge or not. (She would help if she knew where it was. She tried asking once and it was "none of her concern")
"They look...so delicate."
Her worry blows like steam and she relaxes, "Oh, believe me, they are. If you merely flicked them, you could kill them. But despite their size, they have some admirable resilience. I trust them easily."
He nods almost reverently and then his smile drops, "Why did you disobey Megatron's order to stay hidden from them?"
"It's character default at this point," She drops into self-analysis and zones out for a moment. "But I lucked out and met these three by accident. We're good friends and no one they know knows about me. They've so boldly claimed to protect me. Believe it or not, I think the reason they are not threatened by me is because of gender."
"It matters to them?"
She laughs, "Yeah, it seems so. They view femmes as kinder and softer. Don't ask me why."
"They're so different," His smile returns, and he gazes over the picture again, "I wish I could meet them."
"I do too," She waits a while and he hands it back to her. "Unfortunately, Megatron needs you for his war efforts." She tucks it away under her stasis pod.
"I should get back. I don't want to get you in trouble."
With a laugh, she teasingly shoves his arm, "Orion Pax, my dear, if I want trouble, I get it and I know how to pick my fights."
~Do you though?~ Murderer deadpans.
Orion's brows turn up in the middle, "Maybe you can pick them but that doesn't mean you should look for them."
That cut deep. Sonica smooths it over as they head for her door, "Eh, they find me. I like to hang out with you and other things, and those things somehow have consequences. What's up with that?"
Murderer chuckles, ~You're dropping hints. Do you want the Prime destroyed after all?~
"That doesn't seem right," His concern is full now and they stop by the door.
She waves it away, putting it in reverse and flooring it, "Part of knowing your fights is knowing when you're in the wrong. It's honestly because I like to fool around so much. Don't worry about me, O.P."
He nods after he thinks about this; he has witnessed enough to agree. "We are at war. It's no laughing matter."
"Agreed, but if we're not fighting, I don't want to continue to carry that heaviness. I want to keep good times alive. We can't bring them back out of the past, but we can make do with what we have now."
Orion Pax's smile shines from his optics, "As you have said...and I'll say it again, you are very wise, Sonica."
She waves again, "I've lived a few lives, I'd hope I would learn things."
The door opens and Megatron stands there.
~You're a selective learner, Doradus~ Murderer teases and breathes in the dark aura wafting off of Megatron. ~I think I know that better than you do~

"Oh hey, we were just leaving to return to work."
The dark silver bot turns to his friend, "I want you to have fun as much as she does. Really, I do. However, progress is a must and takes priority. With all haste, please return to your office and remember this next time you're thinking of taking a break."
"Yes, Lord Megatron." He bows and walks around him into the hall.
He watches the data clerk walk away and glance over his shoulder before turning the corner out of sight.
Slowly, he turns back to Sonica.
His demeanor has changed and she's on guard.
"Let's have a little chat; right here in your quarters."
~Oh yes. Please~ Murderer rubs his hands together before setting them on her shoulders and squeezing.
Sonica worries that if she puts effort into a verbal retort, Murderer will feel she's distracted enough to take over. Already his strength is building as Megatron pushes his way inside. The door close and lock behind him; Soundwave's doing.
"I have grown particularly weary of you, Sonica Doradus, and you have nothing to offer but energon."
She grins but not consciously, "And turning me into a weapon isn't going well, is it? You finally understand."
"I understand that you are not worth my efforts." He takes aim and his cannon audibly warms up. "Farewell, it wasn't a pleasure."
A flare of pain slams into him but his body doesn't move. His emergency systems deduce that his veins are being pulled. The pain is so intense that all sensors are fizzing in and out.
I'M tIrEd oF wAiTinG...
He doesn't catch all the words but just enough to know her voice isn't right...it's warped with another.
...LeT mE TaKE iT! YoU'Re AS weAK aS hIm...
Megatron suddenly drops and his veins relax but the dark energon is sped up; reaching and lurching for her. The tubes feel heated and strained and his cooling system is far behind countering it.
"I AM Doradus. I CHOSE."
~YOUR CHOICES HAVE LEAD TO THIS. MY TURN~
His sight returns to find the femme floating above him and cloaked in a black mist. Her optics glow violet as her sights set on him. His pulse is heavy and loud, it's all he hears as she moves towards him.
Megatron fights to sit up, struggles to raise his cannon, but the dark energon seems enthralled with the force threateningly hovering over him. It doesn't want to help him anymore. His strength is gone.
As he hoped, missile fire erupts, and a dead-center explosion breaks the connection. The shockwave scoots his recovering body back a couple measures and he rolls onto his hands and knees.
Another femme voice lets out a war cry and a ringing scrimmage begins behind him.
He turns to see Arachnid fighting Sonica, who is looking more herself (save the glowing violet eyes) but something's different. Is he seeing an orange color?
Soundwave is suddenly at his side; his arm still in missile-launcher mode.
Megatron uses him to stand and he takes most of his weight. The dark energon inside him doesn't pulse as hard but internal soreness is swelling; moving at all is difficult in a new way but he must see.
Soundwave allows him to watch while they carefully move backwards. A crowd gathers at the doorway as the smoke starts to thin.
Sonica is wielding something bright orange in a long sword shape. Arachnid is barely managing to dodge it as she not only has to avoid the sword, but the spiked shield too. Sonica lunges them both at the spider and Arachnid crawls up the walls and around the ceiling. She fires her web and Sonica lets it layer on the front of the shield; it should be heavy for delicate Sonica, but she continues to use it like normal.
It can't be her own strength...
He recalls the glide ride.
It has to be...energon!
Arachnid starts to run out of ideas and her last mistake is a three-legged jab blocked by Sonica's very sticky shield.
Again, defying all physics towards her tall but tiny frame, she throws Arachnid around, slamming her to the ground two times before Breakdown rumbles in.
Sonica reacts without seeing, and swings a deep cut across Breakdown's chest. It doesn't fully detour him, but it does slow him. Nonetheless, he walks to her and unexpectedly embraces her.
Her optics sober from the violet light. The orange energon weapons drop from her hands. She wraps her arms around him. Despair shakes her small body and she rambles apologies; over and over. Breakdown would be losing gallons of energon if Sonica wasn't there. He won't go offline but he's in for a long repair. Sonica still apologizes and her pleas gradually change to devastated moans. Despite his injury, Breakdown holds her and Knockout jogs carefully to their sides.
Megatron grins and regains stability on his feet. The drama is deserving of an applause.
All heads turn towards his slow clapping. "Return our little secret keeper to the brig."
A handful of troupes shuffle in and start to rip Sonica from Breakdown. She noisily fights them; screaming for her guardian but troupes have a good grip of her without the use of her powers.
Breakdown falls to one knee and Knockout hovers. As they fawn over each other, Megatron walks as smoothly as he can to the sword and shield she dropped.
Sonica still fights the troupes and she's spinning in their grip. With a wave of her hand, the sword disappears.
Soundwave hits one of her softer spots and knocks her unconscious.
Megatron is in such a good mood, that he waves his fingers at her; bidding her a good, long restart. He stoops slowly for the shield as Arachnid finishes cutting herself free.
Using his leg to get back up, he stands with the orange energon in his hand. His arm shakes a little from combined soreness and weight of the shield.
He studies it for a moment and discreetly eyes Arachnid.
She's fuming as she tries to brush off the dust. Knockout starts to ask and she silences him with a snappy tone before walking out with a couple limps.
Megatron chuckles; Sonica's constant reminder that she was here by choice starts to make sense. All this time, he figured she thought herself so important and irreplaceable. It turns out she has the barrings to take all of them on. Fascinating.
Soundwave comes to his side as the clean-up begins with Knockout and Breakdown mostly out the door. His loyal friend scrutinizes it too; the tilts of his head are telling.
Megatron's strength returns and a thrill warms him that he hardly feels the soreness anymore. A cackle rolls out as he looks fondly at the new energon. "So, Soundwave," He looks to him pleasantly, "Do you think there are more types of energon?"
Catching his mood, Soundwave displays a smiling face on his screen.
He chuckles again, "I think so too. It's ironic that I was about to terminate her. Instead, she gives me this present."
He and Soundwave begin their walk out of the room.
"Worthy, my afterburners."